Cats Clip Eagles in Five

Wednesday, September 24

Cheney, WA

7:00 pm MT

Montana State University

6-6,1-0Big Sky

Eastern Washington

2-11,0-1Big Sky

Montana St.

Eastern Wash.

Teagan Jaynes (6) runs the Bobcat offense in the opensing set of its 3-2 win at Eastern Washington on Wednesday night.

Photo by: courtesy of EWU Sports Information

9/24/2025 10:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“Joelie had an outstanding match,” said MSU head coach Matt Houk. “She was especially good in sets four and five from both a hitting and blocking perspective. She was the spark we needed.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State junior Joelie Spelts recorded a season-high 14 kills and a career-best .722 attack mark and four solo blocks, sparking the Bobcats to a 25-12, 18-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-11 victory over Eastern Washington on Reese Court in the Big Sky Conference opener for both squads, Wednesday night.

Spelts, a 6-3 middle blocker from Gillette, Wyo., was error free from the floor until the waning moments of the match. She finished with one hitting miscue on 18 swings. Spelts notched five kills and three blocks in the fifth frame, dominating the set. In addition, she registered a career-high two aces.

"Joelie had an outstanding match," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "She was especially good in sets four and five from both a hitting and blocking perspective. She was the spark we needed."

Montana State (6-6, 1-0) opened the match on cruise control outhitting Eastern Washington (2-11, 0-1) .484 to .273.

"We were very clean from the start," Houk said. "We did everything we talked about doing and were in control of all parts of the game."

MSU kept the momentum in the second stanza taking an early 10-5 lead. Things then turned on a dime as the Eagles rattled off a 17-4 run, outhitting the Bobcats .375 to .000 to take the set.

Montana State continued to struggle with its serve-receive game in set three as EWU posted five aces and kept MSU out of system, holding off the Bobcats for a two-point decision.

"We were really fighting serve-receive in the third set," Houk said. "Giving up five aces in the set and nine for the match is very uncharacteristic of us."

The Bobcats regained control of its serve-receive game in set four. Trailing 7-5, MSU went on a 14-5 run taking a 19-12 advantage following a Spelts kill. Back-to-back service aces by Karli Heidemann gave MSU the win- forcing a fifth and deciding set.

"We did a much better job with first contact," Houk said. "We were able to get the middles involved."

After giving up the first point in the final set, Montana State recorded five consecutive points and built a 10-4 lead following a Heidemann block. Spelts' 14^th kill of the match gave MSU set point at 14-9. The Eagles fought off two match points before Spelts' sixth block of the contest gave the Cats the come-from-behind win.

"Getting a road win in the Big Sky isn't easy," Houk said. "We were really good in sets one, four and five. We were in control of ourselves and played at a high level. The other two sets were interesting. But in the end, you want to put yourself in contention and it doesn't matter if it's three sets or five."

Four Bobcats reached double figure kills led by Spelts 14, Elli Tufto 13, Makenzie Jackson 12, and Heidemann 12. Setter Teagan Jaynes dished out 43 assists and added four aces and seven digs. Lauren Lindseth anchored the defense with 17 digs, while Heidemann and Afton Thomsen added 13 and 12 saves, respectively.

MSU hosts Portland State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Shroyer Gym.